No words necessary
by AkaNoKarasu
Summary: AU! OC! Shanks should really learn about taking responsibility, then maybe Mihawk wouldn't be stuck with so much work. Like right now, he was stuck taking care of Shanks's cousin while the redhead was looking for his uncle so he could take care of poor Akane, who hasn't said a word in years. MihawkxOC
1. Chapter 1

What was that idiot even thinking? Wait, did he even think at all? Mihawk shook his head. Of course he didn't. Why would he? He had no brain after all. And even if he did have one, it would be small and crippled from lack of use.

"Please, Hawk-eye, only for a little while. Until I can find my uncle so he can take over. "Mihawk's eyebrow twitched slightly in annoyance. Right, only a little while he says. That's what he said last time. After that he ended up owning a cat! Shanks really needed to figure things out before he decided to bug Mihawk about with them. On the other hand, this time the matter was far more serious. It wasn't the life of a cat in his hands, but a human. A woman's no less.

"Name me one good reason, just one, on why I should do that, for none the less." Shanks smiled brightly. "Because we are friends!" Mihawk closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. That was everything, but a good reason. But, this _was _Shanks we were talking about, when ever were his reasons good?

"We will see…" Just what did he, in Shanks understanding of the phrase, agree to?

"Thanks, I own you one." Mihawk restrained from rolling his eyes. That sentence was usually the start of all his trouble.

…

The next day started out as usual, Mihawk sitting in his chair reading the morning newspaper, with Otto, the damn cat trotting round the living room, not knowing what to do out of boredom. Couldn't that cat be like every other, just laying round and doing nothing? No, instead it had to keep knocking things over, though now much less then when it arrived. Then it would just blindly run into things. Mihawk let out a barely audible sigh as he heard the door bell go of. _Shanks._

As he opened the door he was greeted by the grinning fool himself though, that was not what caught the Hawk-eyed man's interest. No, his interest and attention were caught on the small, well for him anyway, woman with dark brown hair that cascaded down her back in gentle waves, her look was downcast, but he could make out big dark brown eyes to match the hair. Everything was accompanied by fair skin which was slightly flushed from the cold. She was clad in a dark jacket which was obviously a size too big for her.

Mihawk turned back to the red head that was might I add still grinning like he won something. "Hey there, hope we aren't late." He said while putting a hand on the girls shoulder. "This is Akane." Mihawk nodded as he looked over the silent girl. He already knew she wasn't speaking, but still he couldn't help his curiosity, though nobody could blame him for wanting to know the reason behind it. Apparently the girl chose not to speak rather than be born mute. A traumatic experience is as much as he could get out of Shanks.

It took them both only half an hour to get her settled in. Shanks said it was best to leave her in the living room for the time. Akane was namely Shanks cousin who until now lived with her old aunt, whom unfortunately passed away. Since Akane was too _unstable _to stay alone (even though she was already 22 years old) her therapist found Shanks and asked him to take her in. Shanks being the idiot he is agreed foolishly not really getting through his tick skull that he really didn't have the kind of lifestyle that would suite a quiet girl like Akane. In Shanks utter demise Ben suggested he asked Mihawk for help, though the older man didn't really mean to ask him to take her, but oh well, at least it worked.

Once done the pair walked back downstairs to the living room only to find Akane sitting on the large window seat her arms hugging her legs to her chest while staring out the window. To a certain extend it fascinated Mihawk, how could she ever be related to Shanks? But then again he was wondering the reason behind such _odd _behaviour, though he decided that he didn't want to know more then he really needed.

Shanks turned to Mihawk with a grin before speaking. "Well, I got to go. If you need anything call me." Mihawk really didn't want to argue with the fool, but he made it sound like she was his responsibility, not the other way round. Though, now she kind of was, but still… You know what I mean, don't you?

Mihawk merely nodded wanting to be left alone. He had a feeling that the girl wouldn't disturb him much, that was at least one thing going in his favour. After Shanks left he turned back to the girl, well woman though she really reminded him more of a little girl, before shaking his head. That was a lot for one day.

…

The next day Mihawk got up as usual at 7 a.m. sharp only to find the girl already downstairs sitting on the windows seat Otto in her lap as she gently runs her slender long finders through his fur. Mihawk shrugged it off. He really couldn't care less and besides, it's not like she made any noise.

Later that very same day, after he came back from work, surprise, surprise he found little Akane seated in her usual spot staring out the window. He however, didn't have much time to dwell on that as he saw Otto racing before him. He sighed knowing that if he didn't follow him something would wind up getting broken.

Later that evening he was sitting in his chair in the living room a glass of red wine before him, a random book that he started reading a while ago and never got to finish in his hands. As he was done with the last chapter he looked up from the page to find the girl looking at him or rather, the book he was holding. Now that perked his interest. She liked to read, possibly? Mihawk decided against asking her. Last time ended with her looking at the ground and then leaving the room. She was so easily embarrassed, it was actually amusing.

But no, this time he decided to leave the book laying on the table and leaving the room. And like that, half an hour later he peeked into the room to find her already reading the book. As he entered the room she snapped her head up from the page while flushing slightly, quickly down casting her gaze. Mihawk sighed. "Come with me." He saw her stiffen, but she obeyed none the less, laying the book back onto the table before following behind him.

He led her upstairs and to a heavy oak door. She watched him with curious eyes as he opened the door only to lead her into a room filled with all sorts of books. He mentioned around the room with his hand as he turned to face her. "You can come here and pick anything you like, just remember to put it back where you found it once you're done." Akane found herself nodding, a small smile playing on her lips. Mihawk watched her look round the room. A small smile _almost _made its way across his face as well. Strange girl indeed.

…

Later that week, Mihawk found himself wondering why he even agreed to let the girl stay. Temporary, that was what Shanks had said. But, could he really trust a man who got drunk and partied as if it were an Olympic sport discipline? He supposed he would have to for a while at least. Besides it wasn't as if the girl bothered him much. Actually he barely noticed she was even here in the first place. She was so quiet, either sitting on the window seat or in _her _room on the bed, always looking out the window. Mihawk would often wonder why what she found so interesting in just staring outside, but chose not to think about it anymore than just a thought. It really wasn't his problem.

But now he had to call Shanks, the idiot still hasn't called and Mihawk wondered whether he was actually even looking for that man, his uncle per say. He sighed as he heard the other person pick up. He was greeted by a slurry voice and a lot of background noise. HE closed his eyes in annoyance. HE should have known.

"_Hello?" _Shanks…

"It's Mihawk." He heard shuffling on the other line before the noise disappeared, replaced by a heavy silence.  
_"uh, about the noise I…" _At least he sounded a _little bit more __**sober **_now.

"I don't care about that. Have you found out anything about that _uncle _of yours?" He heard a sigh on the other line as silence overtook.

"_Yeah…" _He mumbled which actually got Mihawk's interest, though not so much the fact that he found out something, but rather the tone he used. "Well?" Stressed the black haired male.

"_He is uh, kind of gone…" _

Mihawk raised a brow. "Elaborate _gone." _

…

A/N: This story will be short, maybe round 10 chapter max, not sure yet. Anyway, this story was purely made so I could experiment with Mihawks character for my story _To find a lost brother _still hope you enjoyed.

On a side note: Mihawk is 30 in this Shanks 26, in case you were curious.

Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: If you are reading To find a lost brother then expect a new chapter tomorrow.

Disclamer: I do not own One Piece.

...

Chapter 2

"_Uh, well, you know how my uncle is an anthropologist?" _No, Mihawk didn't know, but chose not to say anything. Taking the silence as a 'go on', Shanks continued.

"_Well, he was recently on this project in the Amazonian forest looking for an ancient city of only woman… In short, nobody has seen him or heard from him in months. Apparently there are people looking for him, but…" _And that was where Mihawk tuned out. Lost in the fucking rainforest? Yup, he was definitely related to Shanks, that's for sure. But the real question was what to do with the girl? She couldn't possibly stay here for so long, could she?

"That's all good, but what about the girl?" There was a pause before Shanks registered the question in his brain._ "What about her?" _Now he's done it.

…

Akane watched in fascination as a small squirrel walked on a high tree branch just outside her window. It was a small little thing, but as it tried with all its might to stay on the branch Akane could only watch as it slowly lost balance and started to fall to the ground. Out of instinct she rushed out the room and towards the door to go and see if the little fellow was alright.

She didn't even pay mind to the man with the golden eyes giving her a curious look as she passed him in the living room going towards the door. He didn't seem to found of that as he got up shortly after she closed the door to go after her.

Finally outside, she looked round only to spot the tree and walk towards it. Mihawk was watching all this with a curious look, but made no move to stop the dark haired girl as she bend down to pick something up from the ground. He titles his head slightly in question. Just what was she doing? When he however, came closer he saw her holding a small squirrel. In this condition it was never going to survive.

Akane gently poked the small squirrel watching as his small chest moved up and down. It was clearly alive, but its small hind leg was twisted and seemed to be broken. She gently got up with the small animal still laying on her palm only to turn and nearly run into Mihawk. She stumbled back a bit but made sure no harm came to the small animal. The hawk eyed man nearly sighed. Looks like that thing is coming inside whether he liked it or not, that much he could figure out.

And that's how it was, Akane silently insisted on nursing the small animal back to health. Mihawk could only watch as she cradled the small thing after taking care of its injured leg. How she found the first aid kit was still a miracle, and in such a short amount of time. Though, didn't most people keep those in the bathroom anyway? And the fact that she knew how to take care of the animal was yet another mystery.

As Akane was busy with the small animal for the past week, Otto found himself quiet jealous of the newcomer. He like the attention he had been getting from the woman, since his master wasn't particularly found of petting him, well at least he fed him, but still, a cat needed more. But now the attention of the woman was all hogged by the small brown furry thing. He didn't like that. The pure white cat frisked its tail as he saw his pray finally alone, Akane having left to go upstairs for reasons unknown to the cat, and neither did they matter. All that mattered was the result. The small fur ball was alone, without protection. Otto was sure that once he got rid of that _thing _the woman would be paying all her attention to him and not that dirty _thing. _

Otto prepared himself for the leap, but found himself unable to see the thing anymore as a shadow suddenly loomed over him. He looked up only to be met by the bright shining eyes of his master. He just knew he was in trouble now and he hadn't even done anything yet!

…

Akane found herself often watching the Hawkeyed man. She couldn't help it, there was something so mysterious about him, she kind of liked it, yet she was afraid of him. His sharp eyes, his mouth always pulled in a frown. Everything was so mesmerizing to her. Back when she lived with her aunt she didn't get to see much of the world. The old woman kept her looked up most the time claiming that it was too dangerous outside, her _therapist _agreeing with every word the old woman spoke. She didn't like old doctor Malloy. That woman scared her. With her small beady black eyes, wrinkled face and that awful smell of cheap hand cream she carried with her.

The dark eyed girl sighed softly as she picked up the white cat from the floor only for it to meow in surprise. However, once she started to pet him the cat was putty in her hands. The small squirrel that she was taking care of seemed to be getting better which made Akane happy yet sad at the same time. She grew attached to the small fur ball, but she also knew that it was probably better of outside. Besides, it's not like it lived far, she would just have to walk outside or watched it from her window.

Mihawk watched as the girl petted the cat lost in her own thoughts. How he knew. She wasn't looking outside the window. It seemed her started to notice things about the girl and that didn't sit well with him. The sooner she left the better.

Akane jumped slightly when the door bell suddenly rung. She watched as Mihawk got up from his seat to probably go and open the door.

As Mihawk opened the door he was greeted by a mop of pink hair and an annoyed looking Moriah. He sighed already knowing what the man wanted.

"I know its short notice, but I don't know where else to leave her. She scared every damn baby sitter; nobody even wants to try anymore."

Akane watched Mihawk walk back into the room followed by a little girl with curly pink hair pulled into pigtails. She was dressed in a cute red dress and held a teddy bear top her chest. Once the little girl took notice of her she looked up at towards her _uncle _Mihawk. "Who is this?"

Mihawk sighed as he glance over at Akane then turned back to the waiting Perona. "This is Akane. Try being nice." Mihawk sighed as he watched Perona purse her lips. This was going to be a long day.

Perona pursed her lips once more before approaching the strange woman occupying the windows seat. The pink haired girl took noticed of the woman chocolate brown eyes. Damn, now she wished she had chocolate. No, that wasn't important right now. Sure Perona may be a bit of a spoiled brat, but she knew manners, well, to certain extends.

"My name is Perona." She watched as the woman smiled at her before nodding. That confused the little girl. Wasn't she supposed to say something back? Like I don't know, 'nice to meet you'. Yet the woman remained silent. Perona pursed her lips in annoyance before turning back to her _uncle _Mihawk.

"Why doesn't she say anything? That's just plain rude." Huffed the 7 year old as she stomped her foot. Mihawk fought a sighed as he gave a quick glance to the somewhat sad looking woman. "She doesn't speak." Was his simple answer.

Perona was not satisfied with that. "Why?" Like he knew why. What was he supposed to say. Instead of replaying to the little girl he just walked over to his seat and picked up the book he had to discard previously before opening the door.

The little girl crossed her arms. _Meany. _Perona then resolved to drawing. It wasn't her favourite pastime activity, but since she couldn't have any tea parties here it would do.

An hour later the phone rang startling both the little girl who was deep into her drawing and the woman who had been once again focused on the view outside the window. Mihawk silently got up and went to answer it. Akane watched him pick up the receiver, after a couple of exchanged word where he kept glancing at her and little Perona threw out the whole conversation and the receiver was put back down.

He slowly walked back over to them. "I need to go to work, try to behave." He said while giving the pink haired little girl a pointed look. Perona huffed before crossing her arms over her chest never dropping the huge teddy bear which she held by one of his paws. "Fine." The man just nodded before glancing over at Akane only to find her looking out the window. Sighing he made his way to get his coat before disappearing out the door leaving the two alone in his house. Why did that sound like such a bad idea? Well, he knew Akane wouldn't do anything, but Perona?

20 minutes after the man left everything was still in silence. Well, the silence was slowly drifting as Perona was almost done with her drawing, which in return meant, she either found something new to do, or she bugged the hell out of someone. But something was keeping the little girl from finishing her master piece. She was just way to curious about the woman sitting on the window seat. Why wasn't she speaking? Maybe she was sick. Perona knew from experience that when you were sick aka. Your throat hurt it was difficult to speak. On the other hand, _uncle _Mihawk never said she was sick. So why wasn't she speaking. Maybe she was mute. Perona heard about such people from Doflamingo's little brother Law. She disliked the teenager with a passion. The 15 year old always found a way to annoy the 7 year old to bits. And Perona hated being annoyed almost as much as not getting something she wanted.

"Oi, what do you think is missing here?" She asked holding up the drawing so Akane could see. The woman blinked slowly looking over the drawing. It was a drawing that showed her, a man she didn't recognise 8rather odd looking in her opinion) and Mihawk. It was a cute childlike picture, but Akane could almost certainly tell what the girl was missing. Without saying anything she pointed beside the 7year old. Perona followed her hand with her eyes only for the gaze to fall on Kumashi.

"Thank you." The little girl smile before getting back to finishing her drawing. Akane nodded with a small smile before getting up to go and sit beside the small girl. After Perona finished her drawing she glanced beside her to Akane.

"You really don't speak, do you?" Akane shook her head smiling sadly. Perona nodded in thought. "Why are you living with uncle Mihawk?" Perona shook her head of course the woman couldn't answer that. But Akane merely smiled before grabbing a spare piece of paper and proceeded to draw something. Perona watched her in interest before she was presented with a drawing of a red haired man and her uncle Mihawk. It was an amusing little comic Akane drew and Perona liked it a lot. "I see. That man brought you here?" Akane nodded. Perona sighed. "It must be boring. Uncle Mihawk isn't really very nice you know?" Akane shook her head with a smile. "You don't think so? I would die of boredom here." Akane just continued smiling before glancing over at the hallway that leads to the front door. Perona grinned slightly.

"Do you like uncle Mihawk?" The colour shot to Akane's cheek as she furiously shook her head. Perona merely chuckled at that. She could definitely have some fun with that.

As Mihawk was returning home he was readying himself for a disaster. It wasn't like he expected the house to be on fire. Wait, scratch that, this _was _Perona we were talking about. That child was a spoiled devil in disguise. The man groaned as he pulled up in his driveway. Hopefully nothing major happened or he was going to blame the whole thing on Moriah. But as he opened the front door he was greeted by… silence? Now that puzzled the man greatly.

As he walked into the living room he soon became aware of the reason. Perona and Akane were lying asleep on the couch beside each other. The sight caused Mihawk to let out a sigh of relief. At least nothing was broken.

...

**Thanks to everybody who reviewed/ favourited/ followed this story! You guys are so awesome!**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclamer: I do not own One Piece.

...

Chapter 3

Perona left not too soon after Mihawk got back home. She had been picked up by Moriah who was all the while grumbling about incompetent people at work. Mihawk chose to ignore the grumbling man as he always had a tendency to do that. At least the little demon was gone now. She was surprisingly well behaved, not to mention after the two girls woke up to find Mihawk sitting in his chair, he noticed a wicked glint in the child's eyes. He didn't like it one bit. It was Perona after all, what can you expect?

After he had accompanied the little pink haired monster… I mean girl out the door, Mihawk returned to find Akane with a book perched in her lap while she was holding the little squirrel in her hands. She was giving it a sad look and as Mihawk came to realize the little fellow was completely fine now. There was no need to keep in inside the house anymore. As his feet made contact with the wood floor Akane whipped her head away from the little creature to stare at the Hawkeyed man. Mihawk just look at her as she smiled slightly before turning her attention back to the small creature. The man sighed and true to his previous thought half an hour later Akane was outside releasing the small animal back. It gave of a happy sound as it raced towards the tree, but stopped mid race turning his head to look at Akane one more time before racing atop the tree.

Now Akane and Mihawk were back inside, both sitting in their usual spots. Otto chose that moment to crawl into Akane's lap begging for attention. Mihawk watched as a small smile made its way across her face. And maybe, just maybe there was a small smirk on his face as well.

…

Mihawk sighed as he switched of the TV. Another rainstorm. Seriously, when was winter going to come so he could shovel snow? Note sarcasm. This place was bad to live in. Maybe he should move. He spared a glance at the silent girl as she was watching the turned off TV with slightly wide eyes. He simply shook his head.

That night Mihawk found it kind of hard to sleep. No, it wasn't the howling of the wind or the patter of the rain or even the lighting that was striking in the distance. It was the scared look on Akane's face when she left to sleep earlier that was hunting him. Ugh, he really shouldn't be doing this, but he valued his sleep. Not too soon after that thought Mihawk found himself in front of the girl door. He was about to leave when he heard nothing, but then a sudden whimper brought him to open the door and see for himself if the girl was alright. What he found was rather amusing, yet not at all when you took into account the girl's scared face, which was stained with tears. Mihawk found himself caught off guard. He had not expected to find this.

He found himself unable to speak or move. He felt awkward to say the least. He was never good with dealing with woman, especially crying ones. Once his mind finally registered the crying girl his feet seemed to move on their own as he slowly stalked over to Akane's crying for sitting on her bed hugging her knees. He slowly reached a hand out and put it on her shoulder, she stiffened before her fear filled dark eyes met his gold ones.

Akane was in a haze she was scared beyond belief, she was just waiting for the next crack of thunder shaking as tears streamed down her face. She had been so caught up in her fear that she didn't even register the door opening with Mihawk walking in. It was when he put his hand on her shoulder that she finally looked up. When she did her shaking slightly stopped, but not the tears. Out of instinct she reached out and hugged him. She just wanted comfort and right now he was the only one to give it. She just hopped he wouldn't push her away like her aunt did.

Mihawk stiffened at the contact, but made no move to push the crying girl away. Instead he awkwardly wrapped his arms round her slightly pulling her up in the process. Against his better judgment he started carrying her back to his room. He himself didn't really know what he was doing, but it was met with no resistance from the sobbing girl in his arms. Once in front of his door he kicked it open making Akane slightly flinch in his arms before clinging onto him. The way she was pressed against his bare chest send strange tingles through Mihawk's body that he ignored, or at least tried the best he could.

As soon as he entered the room he went to lay Akane in the bed only to find her clinging to him refusing to let go. Her arms were wrapped tightly round his neck keeping him from moving. Mihawk simply laid her down before crouching over and removing her arms from his neck. The action was met with small sound of protest from the girl, or rather woman who reached her arms out to him, her face still covered in tears, though at least she had stopped the sobbing.

He found himself sighing as he walked towards the other side of the bed and laid down, he wasn't even fully laying down when Akane moved to wrap her arms around him. Even though he knew her thoughts were perfectly innocent that didn't mean his were. She was a woman (fully grown, trust me he could tell and _feel _that much) and he was a man. And they were alone in his bedroom in his bed, her arms round him. Why did that sound so wrong?

Oh, right, she wasn'0t mentally stable and this felt like he was sexually assaulting her. _She is 22 and it isn't like she was protesting, at all… _The little voice at the back of his head whispered and Mihawk knew it was true, but…

Sure it was _she _who had her arms round him, but that didn't stop the thoughts from entering Mihawk's head. Then he took her in. She was perfectly peaceful lying next to him, hugging his side. Her eyes were closed and it seemed that she was drifting off into a comfortable sleep. _Only for this night. _He repeated in his head as she shifted slightly so that he was facing her. She almost immediately moved closed snuggling into his bare chest.

A crack of thunder sounded through the air causing Akane to tighten her hold on Mihawk. His body stiffed again before relaxing realizing she was asleep. He carefully put his arms round her. Might as well get comfortable, after all he still had to get to work tomorrow.

…

When he woke up the next morning he found Akane in the same position as when he fell asleep last night, a content smile painted on her face. A small smile was tugging at his lips as he watched her before realizing his arms were still round her. He abruptly released her before gently moving her arms and escaping her grasp. After he finally stood in front of the bed he could help the smile on his face as he watched her. _Truly innocent. _

He shook his head before entering the bathroom, as he said he was still required at work today.

…

Akane blinked her eyes open as she rubbed her eyes with her hand. She noted the light seeping into the room from the window as she gently sat up in the bed. She looked round confused. She wasn't in her room. Then she remembered last night as a smile made its way onto her face. She unconsciously wrapped her arms round her while pulling her knee to her chest still in his bed, the smile never leaving her face. She was still feeling his against her chest he was so warm and she had felt so safe. Then the question from the little girl entered her mind. Did she like him? Well, he was nice to her, let her stay here and he comforted her last night, no questions asked.

She sighed contently before slowly and rather unwillingly getting out of bed and walking out the room to her own. She slightly stopped in her step taking a glance at the now closed bedroom door before shaking her way. She was secretly hopping there would be another thunderstorm soon, she was scared of thunder that was no lie, but when he led her she felt so save. It was a completely new feeling to her, unfamiliar, but in a good way. She liked it a lot and she couldn't wait for him to get home now.

…

Mihawk sighed as he was driving home from work. The whole day he had been plagued with thought about her body against his that it made it almost unbearable. He knew he had to stop. She was Shanks cousin and after that idiot finally found his uncle she would be leaving so there was no point in this, right? Besides, he really didn't know how much she understood at all. At times he thought her to be a child rather than a 22 year-old woman, but last night… And there he goes again with last night! Last night will never repeat again! Alright, he knew that if there was another thunderstorm then there was a high possibility that it would if she remained here for that long. And something was eating him apart when he thought about her leaving. Something he couldn't quiet stomach.

…

It had been a week after the thunder storm when everything seemed to be falling back into its old pace. Though for Akane this was a whole other subject. She didn't want things to be like before she had secretly hoped he would hug her again. She even found herself daydreaming about him. She she knew that wasn't safe.

Akane jumped slightly as she heard the front door open before a smile made its way across her face. As Mihawk walked into the living room she blushed slightly averting her gaze. She hadn't really figured that she would be this embarrassed; sure she liked to see him. But what were his thought on her? He probably thought she was crazy like everybody else did. After all he had avoided her for the past week.

That's it he was just feeling pity for her. That, even though seemed the most plausible made a frown visible on her face as her eyes watered slightly. She averted her gaze from the floor to the window as she tried to blink back tears. She didn't want him to hate her. She liked him. Why must she not speak? That's right, because she can't because _that man _had said she wasn't allowed too. Otherwise he would come back to hurt her and Akane didn't want him to come back. This knew thought scared Akane even more as he felt the tears build up threatening to fall.

Mihawk raised a brow at the girl odd behaviour before cursing himself. Wasn't he going to ignore her? Too hell with that she looked like she was on wedge of tears. He careful walked over to her as not to startle her as he gave her a curious look trying to figure out what got her almost crying. Was she hurt? He couldn't see a physical injury anywhere on her. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to turn round and met his gaze. The moment she did a tear streaked down her cheek followed by more. Mihawk felt a heavy sting in his chest upon seeing her crying like that. This time there was no thunder this time. So what had made her cry?

He reached out, part of him knew this was wrong, but generally now he couldn't care less. He took the now sobbing girl in his arms carrying her over to the couch and sitting down with her perched on his lap. She had wrapped her arms almost immediately round his neck when he took hold of her and it didn't look like was about to let go as she rested her head on his shoulder her sobs dying down until her breathing event out and Mihawk knew she had fallen asleep. He sighed before running a hand though her long dark locks. He was playing with fire. Was he concerned? Not at all. It just seemed right to hold her like this. He liked it and he wasn't about to give it up.

Glancing down at the sleeping girl in his arms he let a small smile make its way across his face as he pulled her closer. _No going back now. _

...

**Thanks to everybody who reviewed/ favourited/ followed this story! **

Miss Doflamingo: Can Perona be that bad? Course she can and she is going to extremely useful in later chapters for that fact precisely ;) I just figure it would be cute if she referred to Mihawk as uncle it gives me hilarious mental images. Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

ShokoFuuyumi: Thank you! Glad you like it so far! :D

robin3zoro: Soon enough?


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